As The Moon Wanes
by J. Mansfield
Summary: After the death of her father, Luna is invited to stay at 12 Grimmauld Place. Eventually, loneliness and despair overwhelm her, but Remus offers a helping hand and a shoulder to cry on. WARNING: HBP spoilers.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Everything (characters, settings...just everything) belongs to and was created by the wonderful J.K. Rowling. Not me. Additionally, the books (or spoof titles of books) mentioned (Wuthering Heights, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Great Expectations) are not my creation. They belong to the authors who wrote them who, unfortunately, are all dead now. But I still don't own their books.

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_**CHAPTER ONE: EERIE ENCOUNTERS AND HEAVY HEARTS**_

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Luna packed all of her favourite classics into the suitcase: "Wuthering Flights", "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - When Squibs Turn Bad" and "Great Hexations". Sighing to herself, she closed up the worn suitcase (the initials "S.R.Lovegood" on the side in a swirly, elegant hand), took a deep breath, and drifted into the hallway. The walls were now barren; she had taken all of the photos of herself and her parents down, and placed them into one of her many bags. The once warm, well-lit passage was now devoid of any cheeriness or hominess.

"That's the last piece of luggage, Professor," Luna announced dreamily, staring unblinkingly at Minerva McGonagall.

"Well... that's good," McGonagall quavered. She had never realised quite how eerie Luna was until now. After having assisted her with packing for over three hours, she was startled at the fact that even Luna's most cheerful, quaint comments had melancholy and somewhat sinister undertones.

"Where are we going, Professor?" Luna enquired in a distant tone.

"A road named Grimmauld Place. I doubt you will have heard of it. One of the houses along the street is the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. Now that your father has..._passed away_, it will be your home," McGonagall explained. "I did not know where you were going to stay until I mentioned you to Remus Lupin. He said he remembered you from when he taught you in your second year, and that everyone would like it if you were to stay at the headquarters. To be frank, it hadn't even crossed my mind, so I'm glad he suggested it."

"How lovely of Professor Lupin," Luna mused.

"Yes. And Professor Dumbledore would've wanted it," McGonagall assured Luna.

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"Your hair is lovely," Luna noted by way of introduction, gazing at Tonks's vivid pink mop of hair. "It's the exact colour of what was my father's favourite raincoat."

"And you," Luna gasped, "are Ronald Weasley!" With this, she threw her arms around the gangly, red-headed boy and sighed, "Oh, it's been too long since we saw each other last!"

Ron woodenly patted Luna on the back and choked, "It's only been a week or two, Loon—uh, Luna."

"Which is one or two weeks too long a time!" Luna shrilled, her eyes trailing off to the other people standing in the kitchen of 12, Grimmauld Place. "More Weasleys," she marvelled, noticing various people with shocks of red hair. "This is delightful!"

"Has the grief done this to her?" Bill asked Harry, stammering.

"You!" Luna screeched in Fleur's direction. "One of the four Triwizard competitors in my third year! How lovely to see you again!"

"Who iz zis girl, Bill?" Fleur huffed. "She iz terrifying."

"Leave her alone, Phlegm," Ginny chided, uttering the last word under her breath. "Hi Luna! Harry and Hermione are here too! Why don't we all head upstairs to unpack your stuff?"

"Why yes," Luna uttered, her enormous grey-blue eyes surveying everyone else in the room. "That would be magnificent!" With this, she swept past everyone else in the kitchen to follow Ginny, who was heading upstairs. "It has been lovely meeting you," Luna assured everyone.

Once Luna had left the room everyone simply stood, speechless for a moment or two. Remus was chuckling slightly at the bewildered expression on Tonks's heart-shaped face, and Molly was sobbing silently into her apron, her husband's comforting arm round her. It was she who eventually broke the silence.

"The poor girl," she wept. "Her father, the only remaining family she had, has just died, and yet she still puts on a brave face and exercises beautiful manners. I dread to think what she is going through."

"There there, Molly. She's among excellent people now. I'm sure she'll be fine," McGonagall announced sympathetically.

"I promise I'll look after her, Minerva," Molly vowed, her sobbing showing no signs of subsiding.

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Luna learnt from Ginny that the entire Weasley family, Fleur, Remus, Tonks, Harry and Hermione were all staying at 12 Grimmauld Place over the summer holidays, which made her feel considerably better than she had felt earlier on in the day. As Ginny assisted her unpacking, her mind was swarmed with thoughts of her father. It was one thing losing one parent, but losing both of them was another matter entirely. Though she feigned optimism, she actually felt extremely gloomy, vulnerable, and lonely.

"Luna, I don't mind if you don't want to tell me, but I was wondering...how did your father die?" Ginny blurted, kicking herself for the bluntness of the question.

"No, it's quite alright," Luna dreamily insisted. Her eyes, startlingly similar to full, silver moons, widened slightly, and she confessed, "Some Death Eaters tortured him, apparently. Knowing my father, I bet he put up a fight though!"

Ginny found it quite disturbing that Luna could speak of her father's death so cheerfully. _It's probably just her way of dealing with things,_ Ginny guessed. _Acting as though nothing is different._

At that moment, Harry, Hermione and Ron all shuffled into the room. Ron stared at his feet, Hermione watched Luna with concern, and Harry stood forward and sat down next to Luna on her new bed.

"Luna, do you remember what you told me after Sirius died? You mentioned people "just lurking out of sight," and you also said that it's not as if we'd never seen them again. You'll see your parents again, Luna," Harry insisted. Luna felt a twinge in her heart.

"Thank you, Harry," Luna nodded. "I will, won't I?" she added cheerfully.

"Of course," Harry beamed.

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If this chapter gets good reviews, I'll continue the fanfic. I do love writing about Luna. She's one of my favourite characters, and I think one of the finest minor (well, she's not _minor_, but you know what I mean) characters.**

Please review! Every little review brightens up my day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Everything (characters, settings...just everything) belongs to and was created by the wonderful J.K. Rowling. Not me.

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**_CHAPTER TWO: TEA AND CONVERSATION _**

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Luna tossed and turned for all of the night, and struggled to drift off to sleep. She was plagued with thoughts of her father, of Death Eaters, of her mother and how lonely she felt. Of course, she was surrounded by various people from Hogwarts and she had lots of grown ups around too, but she still felt utterly alone. The only person who had been through what she was going through was Harry, yet he was much too young at the time to have felt riddled with grief like her.

Eventually, Luna decided to head down to the kitchen and get herself a cup of tea. She and her father used to drink tea by the bucket-load; they'd each had enormous mugs with their names emblazoned on the side. Peeling the covers off her and reaching into the cupboard beside her to extract her old mug, she slowly rose, pottered out of the door, and made her way down the darkened stairs.

Upon reaching the kitchen, Luna realised that she was not alone as she had imagined she would be; seated at the table was a rough, pasty looking Remus Lupin. When he saw her drift into the kitchen, he gave her a sympathetic gaze.

"Come and sit down," Remus insisted. "I'll make you something to drink. What would you like?"

"Tea, please," Luna requested. "Could you make it in this mug for me, please?"

"Of course," Remus smiled kindly, wrinkles forming round his amber eyes. "Is skimmed milk alright?" he enquired. "It's all we have in"

"Yes, that's lovely," Luna murmured half-heartedly. Her mother always used to have skimmed milk in her tea.

"Any sugar?"

"No thank you, Professor Lupin."

"Please – call me Remus now," Remus laughed as he stirred the two mugs of tea he had made; one for himself and one for Luna.

Sitting himself down at the table, Remus took a quick peak at Luna, who was clutching her cup of tea and blowing on it gently. Her enormous eyes made him some what nervous; they were startlingly similar to full moons. The silence was eventually stolen away when Remus slowly chipped away at a lose splinter of wood on the table with his index finger and endeavoured to ask as tactfully as possible, "How are you? I mean, after the awful events of the past few days."

Luna continued blowing on her tea but in between puffs, she replied simply, "Oh, I'm fine, thank you. It's going to be a bit hard now that dad's gone as well as mum, but I'll cope."

Remus's eyes glanced nervously around the room, not entirely sure how to handle the situation. He did not know whether to continue with the subject or change it; which would Luna prefer? Eventually, he decided to press the matter further. "Luna," he began gently, "you know you can speak to me. It must be awful for you to bottle it all up – eventually, you'll implode. It must've been awful after you lost your mum, but losing both of your parents must be entirely heartbreaking."

At this moment, Luna found a small speck of dust on her pale blue jumper particularly fascinating. As she stared at it, she felt tears well up in her eyes. She did not want to cry in front of one of her old favourite teachers. She did not want to cry whatsoever; she wished she could simply get on with life with her parents by her side.

"I feel awful," Luna finally sobbed.

Lupin tilted his head sympathetically. His mousy, grey-flecked hair fell into his eyes as he did so. Pushing it out of his way, he let out an audible sigh and patted Luna's skinny arm. "I bet your dad was immensely proud of you, Luna," he remarked.

"Thank you," Luna spluttered, her eyes burning. Finishing her cup of tea, she pushed out her chair, rose, and croaked, "I should be in bed now. Goodnight, Prof-I mean, Remus."

Remus wished her a good night and watched thoughtfully as the girl left. Before she had always seemed ghostly and almost ethereal, but now that she had cried, he appreciated for the first time the fact that she was in fact like any other human being. She had a soul, and she was, at this point in her life, on the verge of giving up hope in life.

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**Lunafan** - Very glad you love the story. Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Everything (characters, settings...just everything) belongs to and was created by the wonderful J.K. Rowling. Not me.

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**_CHAPTER THREE: LIGHT BULBS _**

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"What time was this?" Tonks asked Remus, giving him a quick affectionate rub on the arm.

"It must've been at around three in the morning, Tonks. You all went to bed at 11... she must've spent four so hours trying to sleep, but how could anyone sleep after their only remaining parent has just died?"

"Must be terrible for her," Tonks sighed. "It's good you were there to cheer her up, though."

"That's one of the things that upsets me the most though – I didn't cheer her up. It's practically impossible with what she's going through. I wish I could take some of her pain away," Remus confessed.

"Shh, Remus. I know it's difficult for you because you've lost a lot of people you love – James and Sirius to name just two - but you have to just accept that all we can do is offer her comfort when she needs it. There's not much else we can give her. We can't bring her father or mother back," Tonks soothed.

"I can't even offer her comfort at the moment," Remus replied. "Full moon soon. I'll be gone for a little while. Not feeling up to much at the moment."

"Well I'll be there for her," Tonks promised.

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"Luna," Tonks started, "How's things?"

"Oh, you know," Luna muttered, "Things are good. They've selected a new editor for The Quibbler now."

"I'm sure they won't be nearly as good as your father," Tonks remarked. "I'm a fan of The Quibbler."

"Really?" Luna gawked at Tonks. "I thought everyone thought it was nonsense!"

"I don't," Tonks laughed. "How would you like to go for a walk in the park today? Just me and you?"

Luna's eyes glazed over for a second but eventually she whispered, "Yes. That would be wonderful."

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"She's not even wearing her bottle cap necklace," Harry pointed out. "Of course she isn't okay."

"Maybe she just realised how stupid it was, Harry," Ron snorted.

"Ron, that's not nice!" Ginny scolded.

"Luna used to have an air of ethereality about her I believe," Hermione mentioned. "Now, she seems different."

"I agree!" Harry decided.

"She's sort of like a light bulb which has lost its light," Ron speculated in a desperate attempt to sound impressive.

"For once Ron, you're right," Ginny groaned. "Where is Luna, anyway?"

"She's gone to the park with Tonks, apparently," Harry answered.

"Could've asked us to come," Ron huffed, folding his arms.

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"What was your mum's name?" Tonks enquired as she strolled along the pavement arm-in-arm with Luna.

"Selene," Luna replied. "After the Greek moon goddess."

"Ah...and that's why she called you Luna?" Tonks questioned.

"Yes," Luna said simply.

"Do you mind me asking how she died?" Tonks ventured to ask.

"It's fine," Luna sighed. "One of her experiments went wrong."

Tonks gasped. "Must've been awful," she sympathised. "My mum died too. Death Eaters. She was a good witch though, my mum."

"Tonks, can I ask you something?" Luna mumbled.

"Sure."

"Do you think I'm ridiculous?" Luna blushed slightly.

"No!" Tonks insisted as they reached the park. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, people call me Loony Luna at school. Sometimes, they steal my stuff too. Dad always used to reassure me that it'd all be okay, but now that he's gone, I feel alone. And I feel ridiculous," Luna confessed, taking a seat on a bench.

"Luna, the people who call you Loony Luna aren't worth noticing. They are probably just insecure about themselves and take it out on other people. Anyone who gets kicks out of belittling others are ridiculous, Luna. You aren't. People used to think I was weird at school. You have to learn to be confident about yourself. It's a gift, Luna, being different from the crowd. And your dad is always going to be with you," Tonks assured Luna kindly.

"Thank you Tonks," Luna responded, giggling slightly. Tonks had just changed her nose to one frightening similar to Professor Snape's.

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**Lunafan: **Yup, it's not Remus/Luna. I've always maintained that Remus wouldn't be interested in little girls in _that _way, lol. He's much too decent and wonderful. I do love him! His love for Luna (when it arrives entirely!) will be entirely platonic. Thanks for reading; I'm glad you like it!

**Potterlovegood:** Yes, poor Luna :( I feel terrible doing this to her! She's such a charming character. Glad you like the story so far, and thanks for your review :)


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